Facing the Heat like copper cookware fit for royalty at the Pena National Palace

A few months ago a trip to the Pena National Palace in magical Sintra, Portugal, brought the importance and significance of the qualities of copper cookware to me. Here I was, standing in the middle of the largest kitchen I have ever seen gazing admiringly at a collection of copper cookware used by the Palaces’ illustrious former occupants. This collection was no cookware collection for paupers. It was made up of the best the fortune of only a King could buy. Every single cookware in the royal kitchen was made of one material – copper.

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Why you may ask.

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Well, copper has a couple of major benefits which makes it the natural metal or material for use in cookware. It has the ability to conduct and maintain heat which cannot be said of any other. This means that copper cookware reacts to changes in temperature quickest and best at ensuring an even distribution of heat in the cookware. Copper cookware is also non corrosive which means it is not likely to suffer from the same wear and tear as other cookware. In fact copper cookware is normally passed down from generation to generation. All this and other benefits made cookware made out of copper the natural choice for Europe’s and certainly Portugal’s royal families.

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As my thoughts are captured by the characteristics and qualities of copper, I find myself delving deeper into the ups and downs of life. Many a time I have heard folks say that life is a roller coaster. I guess what they mean is that there are good times and bad times. There are times when happiness seem to envelop us all around and times when it seems sorrow and sadness extinguished every semblance of joy. The trick for most people I imagine is to stay on the roller coaster in the belief that their “luck” if they are on a downward trajectory might change.

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Indeed one of my favourite quotes puts it best:

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While the earth remains, Seedtime and Harvest, Cold and Heat, Winter and Summer, And Day and Night Shall not cease.

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This quote tells me that no season necessary to vegetation shall fail. The times that are of greatest consequence to the conservation and progression of man are here to stay come what may. Without seed time there will be no planting and certainly no harvest; Regardless of how cold or harsh winters get or regardless of the length or severity of a rainy season in tropical Africa the Heat of Summer will always push its way in to assert itself. I am yet to experience a Day when Night failed to fall. The brightest of minds and greatest of nations have tirelessly worked in tandem to put man in space but, none has or could ever stop time. None could ever stop the seasons which to my mind makes it foolhardy to downplay the importance of each season.

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During 1995, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro both at the peak of their careers came out with some poignant themes in the film HEAT. At one point Al Pacino’s character asked Robert De Niro’s character…..Can you handle Heat? He then added

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If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.

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A fair enough piece of forceful advise to his nemesis and one that makes perfect sense. After all who in their right mind will want to subject themselves to stress and Heat?

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Is life simply not too short? Well it is in my view until of course the contents of the Royal kitchen of Pena National Palace began to change my perspective. If indeed, “While the earth remains…….Cold and Heat……. Shall not cease” then why “Bolt” in “Usain” quickness when the proverbial Heat comes around? Why not tackle the inevitable disruption with copper like character and vim? A man who says there will be no winter and, therefore, discards his warm clothing will shiver when winter inevitably comes round. The man who, however, believes summer will come and builds shelter and draws water in the winter or raining season to store when the scorching sun comes round is likely to be less affected by the adversities of that season. Like the copper cookware of Pena National Palace that man would be in a much better position to absorb all that Heat Al Pacino alludes to. He would have the non-corrosive durability and endurance that keeps copper cookware going strong from generation to generation. With the realisation that the seasons cannot be stopped, the best way of enjoying and tolerating the roller coaster ride as it meanders from side to side and goes up and down is to always be in readiness of preparation for the next dip and high. If that season happens to be Heat, then there is no better character to adopt but that of the copper cookware, the cookware of royalty.